Impossible Logic
by LilliasCraven
Summary: The Enterprise is lost in space- can a shy young Ensign help the crew find their way home?
1. Ripples

Tabitha stared at the "breakfast" on her plate and wondered if today she might keep it down. No, she decided, it was better not to risk it this close to going on duty.

"Hey TabbyCat, you okay?" Amelia Allen was 5'11, had a fiery temper to match her hair, and had half the men on board bespelled by her and the other half terrified. She also didn't miss much. Tabitha loved her to pieces.

Tabitha forced herself to smile up (and up) at her Amazonian friend. "What, and lose my girlish figure? Let's go. "

* * *

The night shift was usually fairly quiet in the Botany lab. As much as possible, it was staffed by people who were of nocturnal species or who were night owls. Tabitha was studying a night-blooming rose from a planet near the Romulan Neutral Zone and reveled in having the lab nearly to herself.

Not that she didn't like people. She did. She just liked them in carefully controlled doses until she got to know them well.

"Damn!" she muttered as the glass slide slipped from her fingers. It didn't break but the sample would be contaminated now. She wasn't normally this clumsy.

* * *

Tabitha was exhausted by the time her shift ended. All she wanted to do was go back to her quarters and sleep the day away, but she had promised WinterSun she would meet up with him in the Crew Lounge for a bit. Amelia's birthday was coming up and he wanted to do a bit of plotting before she woke up . WinterSun was from a long line of bards and never missed the opportunity for a party.


	2. Lost

Hello everyone- this story is the beginning of some backstory for a much bigger tale that's been living in my head, though I have the feeling it will take on a life of it's own! Chapter 2 coming soon, please let me know any suggestions you may have, I know it is still pretty rough. Also, I don't know how to calculate Stardates, so I've left them blank for now...Do let me know if you want more!

_Eight months earlier..._

_Captains Log, Stardate XXXXXXX_

_Our third day attempting repairs on the Navigation Computer have been unsuccessful. While damage to the rest of the ship has proved minimal, we are unable to communicate with Starfleet Command, leading us to believe the wormhole did indeed throw us further from Federation Space than originally believed. In short, we don't know where we are or how to get home._

Kirk surveyed his bridge and debated his next step. With no way of knowing exactly where they were, it was a game of chance sending out long range sensors to try to determine the best route home. Even if they had the right direction, actually navigating without aid of the computer was a dangerous proposition- asteroids and space debris only the beginning of the dangers. By now the rumor mill had spread the news to the crew- no panics yet, but it was unnerving. Kirk held out hope that the computer could be fixed, but would it be in time? The Ambassadors aboard ship were growing impatient, and until they could contact their governments, who knew what was happening back home?

"Spock, report," Kirk ordered, though he knew there was nothing to report.

Spock straightened from the console he and one of the computer techs were huddled over. More techs were laboring deep in the bowels of the Enterprise where the mainframe lived.

"No change, Captain," Spock replied calmly. Only the shadows under his eyes betrayed his weariness- Kirk knew the Vulcan hadn't slept since the wormhole had spit them into this unknown region of space and vanished.

The lift chimed then and the doors swished open. "Permission to enter the bridge, sir?" Two of his junior ensigns stood in the lift. One was WinterSun to-Ennien, one of Scotty's engineering staff, and a young female botanist whose name Kirk couldn't quite remember.

"What now?" Kirk snapped, then sighed as the pair flinched. The girl looked ready to bolt.

"Sir," WinterSun began, then hesitated and looked at his companion. "Sir, Ensign Rose knows how to get home!"

All eyes were now on the pair standing in the doorway. Kirk leapt to his feet, crossing the bridge in quick steps. "You know where we are? How? What do you know about the wormhole? What is going on here?"

Ensign Rose flushed a brilliant green, then paled. WinterSun's tail circled her wrist soothingly.

Kirk stepped back, realizing he had frightened her. Lord, the young officers got younger every year... He made an effort to speak in a more level tone. "Ensign...Rose is it?" She nodded, cautiously. "Tell me why you think you know how to get back to Federation space."

Ensign Rose looked up at him, huge violet eyes clearly apprehensive. "Sir, it's," she began, her startlingly musical voice trailing off helplessly, "...it's in my _head_, sir..."


	3. and How to Get There

Spock studied the young Ensign, currently huddled over the Navigation console with Sulu. As a botanist, Ens. Rose was in his department, though he had had little contact with the junior officer. He quietly pulled up her file at the small display at the Conn.

_Rose, Tabitha. Ens. DOB: Stardate XXXXXXX Planet of Origin: V'au. Citizen: Earth. Service Record…_

Spock closed the record and stared thoughtfully at the blank screen. Not much was known about V'au. The people were notoriously secretive and outsiders were seldom allowed planetside. They only had a relationship with the Federation at all due to trade. Trade was performed strictly outside of Vehanna space and few individuals functioned outside their society. The few who did seek their fortunes elsewhere tended to be renowned astro-navigators.

Ensign Rose was an enigma. Females in particular were rarely seen, in public or otherwise.

It had long been rumored that V'au was seeded with Vulcanoid stock that took a left turn somewhere in evolution. Rose's delicately pointed ears and upswept brows seemed to confirm this, yet the resemblance ended there.

Sulu and Rose continued to confer, oblivious to Spock's study. It seemed that Rose had an innate ability to visualize spatial direction, to any location in space that she had been to before. A sort of glorified homing instinct. Regretfully, Rose was not a pilot, she did not have the skills to steer the ship herself. She and Sulu were so far unsuccessful in reaching a compromise, despite hours of experimentation. At even impulse speed it was too slow for Rose to verbally communicate the variances in coordinates to Sulu necessary to safely navigate home. It takes thousands of tiny course corrections to travel even the straightest path in space.

And time was running out. Ensign Rose was unable to give exact distances, but estimated at Warp 9 it would take at least a week to return to Federation Space. Cut off from communication, the Ambassadors grew restless.

Spock's gaze drifted back to Navigation. Sulu was muttering in Japanese, too quietly for most of the bridge to hear, but Spock's acute hearing picked it up easily. Rose's eyes were closed, and she touched her forehead as if in pain. Stalemate.


	4. Away We Go

**A/N Sorry this story is taking so long between updates- I know where I need to go but the connecting bits are taking a while to flesh out. As you probably noticed, I added a new beginning chapter- sorry for confusing anyone! **

**Reviews are awesome- I'll try to be more diligent about updating if I know folks are interested!**

_Present Day_

Tabitha blinked her eyes, trying to stay awake in the department meeting. She wasn't used to being awake this time of day, but her schedule had been shifted to accommodate today's briefing. An away mission was planned for a new planet. Nearly the entire Science department was assigned to the mission. Tabitha was hoping for a nice, warm planet this time. The ship was always so cold…

Tabitha jumped as a surreptitious elbow jolted her back to attention. The officer winked at her before directing her attention back to Mr. Spock at the head of the conference room.

"It is important to keep in mind at all times that transporters will only operate at the designated coordinates, as the mineral deposits discussed will prevent…" Tabitha zoned out again….

_4 hours later_

Tabitha wriggled her toes in the grass and reveled in breathing in real, honest to goodness air. No matter how well the air scrubbers and filters cleaned the air on board, it was never quite the same as real planetary air.

WinterSun had somehow managed to get partnered with her for the day, and they had struck out to find a site that interested them both. They had lucked out early on with a overhanging cliff covered in a lichen-like growth. He knew her well- wide open skies made her a bit uncomfortable. Anyway, as much as she was loving the heat of the sun, burning to a crisp was not on the agenda today.

The Sivaoan was at this moment hanging upside down from the cliff face, his tail wrapped around one rock outcropping while his claws firmly gripped the soft, sandstone-like surface. He was staring fixedly into his tricorder.

"Don't fall!" Tabitha called up to him from her seated position on the ground. "Cats only have nine lives, and I'm pretty sure you wasted at least two of them when you told Amy what her pheromones smelled like."

Winter just hissed at her.

Tabitha laughed and went back to gathering her lichen samples. They were fascinating. The air was clean and warm, and a bee-like insect lazily circled about. It was a wonderful afternoon.

_Later_

"Wake up, Tabs! Time to head back- I'm hungry!"

Tabitha blinked in confusion and batted at the furry…tail? tickling her face.

"Wha..?" She asked intelligently.

"You fell asleep." WinterSun told her helpfully.

"Thanks." Tabitha told him flatly. "Oh, damn!" she cried, remembering her lichen samples, and sprang to her feet. The world swam in front of her.

"Woah, Tabs!" WinterSun caught her about the waist before she fell. "Are you okay?"

Tabitha rested her head against the soft fur of his chest for a moment while her head cleared. She forced herself to smile up at him. "Thanks, I'm fine. Just stood up too fast."

WinterSun didn't look convinced. "You're thinner than you were…I didn't notice it because I see you everyday, but you're thinner."

"Well, I won't get any fatter waiting around here. C'mon, you said you were hungry?"

Winter was effectively distracted. "Yes, food! Let's go!" He helped her gather her samples up and they set out for the landing point.


	5. Left Behind

**_(A/N this story takes place in the "present" or eight months earlier, as noted)_**

_Present Day_

_Captains Log, Stardate xxxxx.x. We've been in orbit of Planet XC113 for 6 standard days. Due to the difficulty in transporting to the service, a base camp has been established at the initital transport site. The vast majority of the Science departments continue to catalogue the surface, under the guidance of Commander Spock. To date there are a variety of botanical and mineral compounds that, to quote Mr. Spock, are proving to be intriguing..._

Kirk smothered a grin as he watched the live feed from the planet on the main screen. Starfleet had gotten more stringent lately about Captains leading away missions. Not that the remaining crew was clamoring for shore leave- there was a reason the human crew had nicknamed the planet "Dagobah." On the screen Kirk watched a dozen or so blueshirted crewmembers excitedly fan out in search of scientific treasures, while a muddier team returned from their excursions in search of food and dry feet.

A purely scientific mission was a nice, relaxing change of pace, compared to speeding off at Warp 8 to save someone's bacon. Kirk figured he could take about 2 more days of "relaxing" before he started climbing the walls.

"Uhura, you have the bridge." Kirk threw over his shoulder on his way to the turbolift.

"Aye, sir." came her voice as the doors swished shut. Kirk decided to walk the long way, just for something to do. He had to admit the ship hadn't looked this good in a long time. Downtime was certainly allowing Maintenance to catch up on all those little repairs that kept getting neglected. Hard to repair the carpet when the warp core is shutting down.

Kirk strolled into Sickbay, looking for McCoy. Bones was usually good for a distraction, but he was nowhere to be seen. Kirk frowned, before remembering Bones had taken a shuttle down to the surface earlier that day, refusing to trust the transporters.

"Well, damn," he muttered, startling a nurse.

"Sir?"

Kirk backed out of Sickbay and debating visiting Engineering, but wasn't quite sure what he would walk into down there. Scotty had a way of relieving his boredom by taking the engines apart, much to the chagrin of his junior officers.

_"Bridge to Captain Kirk..." _the intercom warbled.

"Kirk here"

"Sir, could you come to the bridge? The away team has found something interesting."

**A/N thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! I'm hoping to update more regularly now that power has been restored- we've had a few horrid storms recently. I have a definite place this story is going, but I'm happy to entertain prompts along the way. ** :)


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